Police say any protester trying to shut Story Bridge will be arrested
Controversial local MP Jackie Trad has addressed protesters’ plans to shut down Brisbane’s Story Bridge this weekend.
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Jackie Trad has urged anyone planning to attend a protest at Brisbane’s Story Bridge this weekend to reconsider, warning it would put the community at risk.
Protest organisers, including local Greens councillor Jonathan Sri, have demanded the refugees and asylum seekers who are detained at Kangaroo Point Central Hotel and Apartments in Brisbane be released into the community.
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They have given a deadline of noon tomorrow, after which the protest on Saturday will attempt to shut down the Story Bridge. About 3000 people have expressed interest in attending on Facebook.
Former treasurer and local state MP Ms Trad – who faces a fight for her political survival against the Greens in the October state election – acknowledged the importance and complexity of the issue, saying she believed the continued indefinite detention of refugees and asylum seekers at Kangaroo Point was human rights abuse.
“I know that people are frustrated, and they want to make a difference to the lives of these refugees,” she wrote in a Facebook post today.
“But, frankly, putting at risk our community, and our lives and livelihoods by staging a mass protest of maximum disruption is not the way to go about it.
“We are not only in the midst of an unprecedented global health crisis, we are also in an economic crisis that will only get worse if we saw a second wave of COVID-19 here in Queensland.
“And people in our community and across the state are losing their jobs and small businesses are under so much pressure.
“I know this is hard, and people want to do something to fight for change, but Saturday’s planned event on the Story Bridge will risk people’s lives and jobs.”
Ms Trad slammed the Federal Government, claiming the decision to detain refugees indefinitely was a disgraceful act.
But she urged people to think of a different way to send the Federal Government a message this weekend.
Earlier, Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk refused to rule out court action to stop the protest, saying “all options” were being considered.
Speaking on the Gold Coast, Ms Palaszczuk said the Government and police were looking at ways to stop the event from going ahead.
“Now is not the time to have mass protests, we are in a world pandemic,” Ms Palaszczuk said. “Queenslanders are making sacrifices to keep everyone safe.
“There are discussions currently underway with police and they are looking at putting in place all options that are possible to ensure that this mass gathering does not happen.”
Asked if she would follow the lead of her NSW counterpart Gladys Berejiklian and launch court action to stop the protest as happened with the Black Lives Matter demonstration in Sydney, Ms Palaszczuk said: “All options are being looked at, all options.”
She called on protesters not to turn out, saying they could ‘take us backwards’ in the fight against COVID-19.
“The police will not hesitate to take action. If it is necessary to stop this protest or to remove protesters,” she said.
LNP Leader Deb Frecklington earlier demanded the State Government exhaust every legal option to stop this weekend’s protest.
“Annastacia Palaszczuk has a responsibility to keep Queenslanders safe by preventing thousands of activists from protesting on the Story Bridge,” she said.
“Allowing the mass protest to take place on the same day Annastacia Palaszczuk is shutting the border would be completely hypocritical.
“Every legal option possible must be exhausted because we can’t risk a second wave of coronavirus in Queensland.”
Meanwhile, police have confirmed any protester attempting to shut down the Story Bridge on Saturday would be arrested.
“We have very clear intelligence … (that a) group of people that have issues that they feel passionate about are planning to protest and shut down the Story Bridge,” Mr Gollschewski said.
“This is not the time and that is not the way for the style of protest we want in this state at the moment.
“We are in a pandemic. Having groups of up to 3000 people gather for a protest activity is not sensible. It is not the smart thing to do.
“From a purely public health perspective this is not supported.”
Mr Gollschewski said police had tried to engage with protest organisers and had received no response.
Acting Assistant Commissioner Bill Graham said police would not hesitate to take action.
“Rest assured if anybody tries to enter the bridge, they will be arrested,” he said.
Mr Graham said police would have “enough” resources on hand to “deal with the situation”.
Mr Gollschewski said they also had a “surge response” if numbers were larger than expected.
“You are really putting everyone at odds on what is important … at the moment,” he said.
